The Rochester Americans are short on defensemen for the first time this season and have added two players prior to three games in three nights starting on Thursday. The team signed Maury Edwards (Cincinnati Cyclones) and Brock Matheson (Stockton Thunder) to PTO’s, both from the ECHL.

The Amerks lineup will be without Shaone Morrisonn who was suspended for three games because of this hit last Saturday on Brian Willsie of the Hamilton Bulldogs. The Amerks are also without Joe Finley (healthy scratch Wednesday night) and TJ Brennan who are on recall to the Buffalo Sabres. With those three players out it leaves the team with Alex Biega, Drew Schiestel, Dennis Personn, Nick Crawford and Corey Fienhage.

That’s not a defense that any team will be very fearful of.. with the current coaching staff though I’m confident they’ll give them some good guidance at dealing with what they have and not thinking about what or who is missing.

From the Amerks press release on Matheson:

(Rochester, NY)… The Rochester Americans announced today that the team has signed defenseman Brock Matheson of the ECHL’s Stockton Thunder to a professional tryout.

Matheson, 24, has appeared in 19 games for Stockton this season, recording one assist and 13 penalty minutes. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound blueliner played in two American Hockey League games last season with Binghamton following the completion of his collegiate career. A native of Ganonoque, Ontario, Matheson played four seasons with Union College, where he registered 24 points on nine goals and 15 assists in 141 games.

From the Amerks press release on Edwards:

(Rochester, NY)… The Rochester Americans announced today that the team has signed defenseman Maury Edwards of the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones to a professional tryout.

Edwards, 24, has appeared in 23 games for Cincinnati this season, recording 10 points (3+7) and six penalty minutes and ranks second on his team in scoring among defensemen. The 5-foot-11, 176-pound Edwards played in 12 American Hockey League games last season with Providence, Lake Erie and Peoria following the completion of his collegiate career. A native of Rocky Rapids, Alberta, Edwards played four seasons with UMass-Lowell, where he registered 79 points on 28 goals and 51 assists in 147 games. Edwards was a Hockey East First Team All-Star in 2008-09.

The puck drops at 7:05pm, we’ll see what the starting lineup looks like then.